This brand new ensemble - Kari Ikonen, Nemat Battah, and Abdissa Assefa - already sound like an established unit, gaining a lot of wow-type attention for its totally unique music, its charming spirit on stage, and for the pianist’s revolutionary invention – the Maqiano™ Microtuning System, that allows him to play the Arabic maqamat on acoustic piano.

Combining voice, Finnish kantele and Arabic oud Duo SaBa forms a unique duo that both honors their cultural heritages as well as creates something new and unheard of. Duo SaBa aims to increase intercultural dialogue through their multicultural music and wants to explore creating a new collective sonic identity with their traditional yet rare instruments.

In Staerna two vocalists and two traditions meet - Isa Holmgren, a Swedish vocalist anchored in the traditional music from the borderlands between Sweden and Norway, and Nemat Battah, a vocalist and oud player from Jordan/Palestine with musical roots in Arabic traditions. Together with Hampus Grönberg on guitar and Alexandra Nilsson on cello, they offer a unique sound.